Final day with the American team

     Sunday was the last day most of the students had with the full American team. We got to worship together and afterwards we saw a lot of downtown Kiev. The last day of camp, the students were invited to come Sunday morning to worship with the "first" official Sunday service. Liberty has had several worship services in the past but those were for special events and holidays.
     Since Max preaches for Big City church, Rich Savoy had the honor of giving today's message. He chose the topic of "eternal perspective" and encouraged the students and us to think about living our life with eternity in mind. He said the three main choices we have in life are, in order of importance, our master, our mate, and our mission. The first should influence the second and will also hopefully dictate the third. Dara Nikityuk translated for Rich today since his Russian is не хорошо (not good).

     After church, we got to walk around downtown Kiev with a big group of students from camp. The ones who came to the service, as well as a few others, joined us for lunch at Puzata Hata near Maidan and a good walk around the city. We saw a lot of the same things as last year. But since Austin and Joan missed that trip, we covered a lot of the same ground for them. For me, it was interesting to see Maidan again after a year. The damage from the revolution is mostly cleaned up in the square but at least one of the buildings nearby still shows signs of fire damage. I'm not big on souvenirs but everyone else got some. The Andriivs'kyi descent is a popular spot for artists and vendors to hawk their wares. It's also a popular tourist trap and rightly so. It has an amazing view of the city and is home to St. Andrew's Church, an 18th century structure with great, antique iconography and design.
     We finished off the evening with a quiet, relaxing time at Max's house. His wife Nina is an excellent cook. We got to talk, debrief, laugh, and rest before tomorrow's early morning rushing around. Max demonstrated an interesting way of heating water for tea. The team, Dara and Max also debriefed about our impressions and opinions on the camp, the students and Liberty church's ministry. Joan also had a lot of fun playing with Max's kids, Marta and Little Max.
     It's now 23:55 and I'm in need of some sleep. Tomorrow my mom and I need to be leaving my place by 07:00 to get to the airport on time. The team flies out at 10:00 and will be back in the States Monday afternoon (EST). So please pray for safe travel for them and for no lost luggage. Apparently Paris is notorious for making baggage disappear.
     And as a fun fact, while walking around Kiev today, I met three Americans living here. They have a little bit of a rebel attitude but it's good to hear a familiar accent.